Nothing Special
by Midnight x Poker
Summary: Rima's birthday has arrived, though she's not too pleased. Can Shiki change her attitude? ShikiXRima. Dedicated to XxShiMaxX


Hey x Well, a break from my fics with this birthday oneshot. This was a request from XxShiMaxX, so it's dedicated to her. Sorry it took so long XP

* * *

The alarm clock buzzed, non-too loud for the vampire's sensitive ears so early in the day...well, night. Toyah Rima groaned, before shooting a hand from beneath the covers to hit the snooze button. _'Damn alarm clocks. Why must they always be so loud. Don't they know I'm trying to sleep?'._Her thought were always rather incoherent when she was waking up, the world seeming to conspire against her. Just as she was drifting back off to sleep, two simultaneous alarms rang out into the room. A growl tore itself from the petite blonde's throat, her cerulean eyes snapping open to glare at the human contraption. _'God damn it! Why are there two of them?!'_ She screamed in her head after seeing an identical alarm clock on the ground beside her four-poster bed. She threw back the duvet, only to gasp at the sudden chill and crawl right back under them. The alarm clocks still sounded out shrilly, but she tried to tune them back. _'I hate mornings!'._A third alarm joined the quartet. With a sigh, she braced herself for the expected chill and threw back the covers. Rima hit the first one, too tired to control her strength and it shattered upon the bed side table.

"...Oops. Ruka won't be pleased." She muttered to herself. Looking towards the other bed, she found it empty, the covers impeccably neat. _'Huh? She's awake before me? That's rare'._She shot a kick out at the second alarm clock and the shrill cry stopped immediately, leaving but one.

"Where the bloody hell is it?" She growled to herself, her bad mood increasing as she followed the sound of the alarm clock. Looking towards the source of the noise, her brows furrowed. _'Who the hell would put an alarm clock in the bathroom?'._ Striding across the room, she threw open the bathroom door and walked towards the sink upon which sat the clock.

"Grrrrrrr...Which idiot..." She mumbled to herself, hitting the off button on the alarm clock. Looking up in the mirror, her eyes widened.

"Eh?" She breathed. Obscuring the reflection of her deep blue eyes and long blond hair, rarely down, was toothpaste across the mirror, forming the words:

'Happy Birthday!'.

"..." _'Oh crap! Hell no! It can't be!'._Rima ran from the bathroom and skidded to a halt in front of the dresser, where Ruka had decided to hang the calender. Circled in blue, Ruka's favorite colour, was '19th October'..._'Oh, you've got to be kidding me...'_

* * *

"Ne, Shiki? How come Rima hasn't come down yet?" Takuma Ichijo asked Senri Shiki as they sat in the lounge, slumming the time till class began.

"...Dunno. Probably saw the calender and has crawled back under the covers in a depression." He stated in a monotone, scanning the page of the magazine he was currently flipping through.

"Huh? Depression? What do you mean?" Yuuki Kuran asked, having just entered the room, and settled on the couch across from the two boys, followed closely by Kaname Kuran.

"Ah! You wouldn't know Yuuki-sama, but the past few years Rima has been getting all depressed on her birthdays." Takuma smiled at the Pureblood Princess. She cocked her head to the side, brow furrowed in confusion.

"Why?" She said softly.

"Er...Well...," Takuma faltered, racking his brain, " Actually, I'm not sure."

"Shiki?" Yuuki asked. Of course, everyone assumed he'd know, seeing as he knew her better than she knew herself. Shiki looked up to meet her eyes; It was rude not to look a Pureblood in the eye when you spoke to them after all.

"A few years ago at a party, some foreigner told her she was looking more and more like her Mother each day. Let's just say, she doesn't get along with her Mother." He replied.

"Oh, I see." Yuuki nodded. Takuma laughed.

"She doesn't look like her Mother though, I've always thought she looked like her Father." He stated. Shiki shrugged.

"Even one person saying it got to her. She thinks she's going to end up like her when she's older, so she hates getting older."

* * *

"I'm not going! I'm not going!" Rima chanted after having washed the toothpaste from the mirror, trying not to look at her reflection. She threw herself back on her bed, her hair fanning out around her.

"Rimaaaaaa!" An, at the moment, irritatingly familiar voice sung out, opening the door. Ruka smiled as she strode across the room towards the sulking vampire.

"Come on! Not this again. Get up. The others are waiting for you." She stated, grabbing Rima's hand and pulling her up. _'Damn her superior strength' _Rima thought to herself, being pulled along like a ragdoll.

"You can't do this every year. We left you to your moping last year, but this year you're coming to class." Ruka said, throwing her one of the uniforms from their shared wardrobe.

"I don't feel well." Rima stated, tossing aside the blouse and skirt.

"Liar. Get dressed!" Ruka barked, before leaving the room. With a sigh, Rima resigned to the fact that Ruka wouldn't let her wallow this year and discarded of her nighty.

* * *

"Hey, Shiki? Have you gotten Rima anything _special_for her birthday?" Aido grinned, the implication not at all subtle.

"Hanabusa..." Kain sighed, shaking his head, no doubt thinking of his cousins lack of class. Shiki didn't even deem the question significant enough for a response, but Takuma took an interest in it.

"Yeah Shiki. You must of gotten her something. What was it?" Takuma smiled brightly. Shiki shrugged.

"Nothing special." He stated.

"Good. I don't want anything." Rima'svoice floated down the staircase as she descended with Ruka, her flawless face set in a scowl.

"Happy Birthday." The group said in unison. She merely grunted, following Ruka as she sat down beside Kain.

* * *

They spent the next few hours exchanging pointless banter, complaining about the Day Classes antics (Aido defending them all the way), till twilight had set in and class was due to start.

"Well, let's go." Takuma said, following Kaname and Yuuki through the doors of the Moon Dorm. Aido, Kain and Ruka followed, with Shiki and Rima bringing up the rear.

"Come on, change your face. It's not that bad." Shikimurmured to her as they passed the usual crowd of Day Class fans. They had been harder to handle recently, what with Yuuki Kuran being changed and entering the Night Class, and Kiryu having disappeared.

"Damn they're loud..." She mumbled, ignoring Shiki's words. He sighed.

"Shiki, the Chairman wishes to see you." Kaname announced as they were entering the main building.

"Alright. Thank you, Kaname-sama." Shiki said softly.

"I'll see you later Rima." Rima nodded, waving her hand before walking into the main building. _'Better not be another Level E or I'll have to go too.'_

* * *

Rima didn't get off as scot free as she would have liked. When she dug into her bag to find her notebook, the only thing she usually carried in the bag, she found it under a pile of...presents. Now, she wasn't completely opposed to getting presents, they were free after all, but she'd rather not get them just because she was getting older. Amongst the pile clogging up her stretched bag, _'How did I not notice it was any heavier?'_, were chocolates and pocky, presumably from Aido seeing as he had quite a large stash in his and Kain's room, a shobo(1) no doubt from Takuma as she'd lost her last one when they had hunted a particularly vicious Level-E, the receipt for a Yukata (_'My god...How expensive...') _probably from Ruka, and half a dozen cards. Sighing, she dug under all the gifts and pulled out her notebook, straightening back up to her desk. Ruka flashed her a smile, which she returned. It would of been rude not too, and judging by the amount of 0's on that receipt, that Yutaka was worth quite a few smiles.

"Copy down the information from the board quickly. We have a lot to get through." The teacher drawled, gesturing to his pristine calligraphy. Propping her head on her hand, elbow on desk, she flipped open her notebook to a clean page. Inside was an envelope. '_Oh great, a persistent card...Oh...'_. After flipping over the envolope, she recognised Shiki's untidy scrawl. _'He must of been in a hurry?'_ Opening the letter, it read:

_Rima_

_A car will be waiting for you at the gates of the school at 3:30 A.M_

_We have a night time photo shoot. The Chairman forgot to pass on the message so I've gone on ahead to apologise and speak to our manager._

_Shiki_

_'...Fantastic...This day is just getting better and better...'_. Frowning, Rima signalled behind her to Takuma.

"What time is it?" She mouthed. He checked his watch a mouthed back "Twenty to four."

"Crap...Excuse me, Sensei? I have to go." She stood up, collecting her things and grabbing her over-laden bag.

"Hmm. Very well, go Toyah-san." The teacher dismissed her with a wave. She strode from the classroom, then proceeded to run down the the gates, trying to maintain human speed in case any Day Class students were breaking curfew. When she got there, a car was still waiting, just like Shiki had said. A man leaning against the car straightened up.

"Toyah Rima-san I presume?" He said. She looked him up and down, sensing that he was a human. _'The agency must of sent him...'_

"Yes. I apologise for being late. I only just got the message." She replied, following him around the car and thanking him as he opened the door for her.

"Not a problem." He closed the door and climbed into the front.

* * *

After an uneventful car ride, they arrived at one of the agency's more popular studios.

"Here we are. You're expected inside. I was told to instruct you to Studio Two." The driver stated, opening her door and helping her out.

"Thank you..."

"Hananzono. Hananzono Itsuki." He introduced himself.

"Thank you Hananzono-san. Studio Two, right?"

"Yes. Right that way." Rima went the way Itsuki had directed, not managing to suppress a scowl at the thought of modelling. She didn't usually mind, a way to pass the usually mundane time gaps between classes and sleeping, but today wasn't finishing fast enough. _'Here we go...'_. She opened the door, stepping into the studio. Rima's eyes widened.

"You're late." A familiar voice sighed. She spun around, meeting Shiki's disapproving stormy blue eyes.

"Shiki...What is this?" She gestured to the room around here.

"Nothing special." He shrugged. The always changing studio had now taken on the look of a garden, fairy lights strewn across the roof beams and false trees, a picnic blanket and basket carefully arranged on the ground. What caught her interest most of all though, was the very realistic looking rose bushes surrounding them. Rima walked towards them, delicately taking hold of one of the bright yellow roses.

"Yellow roses...Expressed joy and gladness." Shiki murmured, watching her admire the roses. Rima turned to him.

"You know the meanings?" She said, surprised. He nodded.

"Oh, then what about...these white ones?" She asked, wandering over to another bush of roses.

"White roses signify humility, innocence and purity." He replied without missing a beat. She smirked slightly.

"Alright, Mr Know-it-all. What about pink roses?" She gestured to the mass of pink in her peripheral vision.

"Pink Roses in general, symbolise grace, elegance and gentility, but they are often given as an expression of admiration." A hint of a smile played at his lips.

"We all know roses signify love--"

"It's not very commonly known, but red roses also symbolise respect and courage." He cut her off.

"Well, they're the only ones I can think off. You win." She sighed. _'Doesn't he always?'_. She was still admiring the flowers when Shiki came up behind her.

"I can think of another." He whispered, turning her to face him and pulling her to her feet.

"What..." He pressed something into her hand.

"The black rose..." He muttered, blue eyes never leaving her cerulean ones. She, on the other hand, managed to tear her eyes away from his and looked to her hand. A pure black rose, completely bloomed, with a white ribbon tied around it lay in her palm.

"What...what does it symbolise?" She asked, looking up to meet Shiki's eyes again. Rather than answering, he bent down and pressed his lips against hers briefly. Rima felt blood rush to her cheeks. _'A blushing vampire...who ever heard of such a thing...'_. He pulled back, leaning forward to rest his head upon her shoulder.

"Unquestioning devotion...Happy Birthday Rima."

* * *

(1) A **shobo**is a weapon, similar to the Emei Piercer of China, which was used by the ninja of Japan for striking pressure points on an opponent. It was a piece of wood that was gripped by the wielder and was hung by a ring worn on the middle finger. The ends were exposed and were usually sharp which made them effective for paralyzing and even killing enemies quickly and without leaving a trace. They were easily hidden in the ninja's fists and were very lightweight and portable. -Taken from Wikipedia.

Rose meanings found on miscellainous sites.

Another ShikiXRima, Yay! Please review!!


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